Have you got German family? This question comes up and will maybe always come up when I say I translate from German. It would be the only thing that would make sense, the question seems to say, if it was part of me from birth, part of my heritage. At school, I just felt like […]
Jen Calleja
When Translating is Not Translating / When Translating is a Break from Translating
During this residency, I have been translating a new hybrid non-fiction book by the German author and translator Gregor Hens. I translated Hens’ essay-memoir Nicotine for Fitzcarraldo Editions in 2015, my second ever book translation and first for adults, which explored how his long-term addiction to smoking was intertwined with his memories, his sense of […]
Resident Shapeshifter
What is a Translation Residency? Well, it depends on whose house you’re in and what kind of guest you are. In 2015, I was doing the first of two year-long stints as acting editor of New Books in German magazine. On the committee of the magazine was Theodora Danek, the Project Manager for Culture at […]
Vehicle
An extract from Jen Calleja’s novel, Vehicle, published by Prototype on 8 February 2023. MOSES PERFORMS THE WELCOME SPEECH GIVEN BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE OF TRANSMISSION FROM MEMORY FROM THE BACK OF THE VAN As this is exam week for our students, we wanted to gather you, friends of the Institute, in […]
Vehicle by Jen Calleja
Vehicle: A Verse Novel is a new book by current UEA student Jen Calleja and is published by Prototype this week. Jen is currently studying for a PhD in Creative & Critical Writing at UEA. Her debut collection of poetry, Serious Justice, was published by Test Centre in 2016, followed by the pamphlet Hamburger in the Archive, which was published […]
Dust Sucker by Jen Calleja
Dust Sucker is a new book-length poem by current UEA student Jen Calleja and is published by Makina Books this week in a bilingual edition with a German translation by Austrian poet Carolina Schutti. Jen is currently studying for a PhD in Creative & Critical Writing at UEA. Her debut collection of poetry, Serious Justice, was published by […]
2022 Literary Translation MA anthology: foreword
Jen Calleja’s foreword to UEA’s 2022 Literary Translation MA anthology, published by Egg Box and available HERE Taking A Chance Translating is not sauntering over a bridge, ferrying a package over a calm body of water, delivering a pre-wrapped gift with a bow. It’s more akin to painstakingly building something magnificent from scratch while […]
Jen Calleja shortlisted for Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize
Current UEA student Jen Calleja has been shortlisted for the 2022 Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize for her German-to-English translation of The Liquid Land by Raphaela Edelbauer, which was published by Scribe last year. The prize recognises book-length literary translations. Jen is currently studying for a PhD in Creative & Critical Writing at UEA. Her debut collection of […]
Scintillas: New Maltese Writing 1 edited by Jen Calleja and Kat Storace
Scintillas: New Maltese Writing 1 is a new anthology of contemporary Maltese writing edited by Kat Storace and current UEA student Jen Calleja has just been published by Praspar Press. It includes new fiction, poetry and literary nonfiction in English and English translation by a selection of emerging and established Maltese writers from across the […]
Jen Calleja longlisted for Dublin Literary Award Novels in Translation Prize
A novel translated by UEA research student Jen Calleja has been longlisted for this year’s Dublin Literary Award Novels in Translation Prize. The Pine Islands by Marion Poschmann was published in Germany in 2017 and is the first of Poschmann’s novels to be translated into English. It was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2019. […]
